This invention relates to a carrying gripper for shuttleless looms. It is a carrying gripper specially designed for fast looms for manufacturing fine articles.
It is known that, as the weaving speed increases in shuttleless looms, the gripping and retention of the weft yarns by the grippers which convey them through the shed present problems which are increasingly difficult to solve.
In particular, when the weft yarn to be inserted into the shed has to be gripped and cut, the very short time available for carrying out these two operations creates serious timing problems. In this respect, it is apparent that even minimum variations--which are perfectly normal also in a set machine--can lead in this particular stage of the operation either to tearing of the weft yarn or even to cutting thereof before it is properly inserted and retained in the gripper, with the result of the yarn being missed by the gripper.
It has been sought to remedy these drawbacks by delaying the cutting operation. In this way the weft yarn is sure to be properly inserted into the gripper even if cutting takes place before time, whereas any further delay of the cutting can only lead to sliding of the yarn between the gripper retention elements in the direction of its feeding to the fabric. However, with this arrangement, it is possible for the weft yarn--as a result of inertial or purely accidental stresses--to end up by sliding in the opposite direction, with the result of the yarn being missed and the loom stopping.
The stated problem is however efficiently solved by the gripper according to the present invention, in which the weft yarn retention element is conceived in such a way as to facilitate sliding of the yarn in the direction of its feeding to the fabric, while making it instead more difficult for the yarn to slide in the opposite direction.